


Lord Clegane of Winterfell

by pinkgeranium



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Original Character(s), SanSan Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:58:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkgeranium/pseuds/pinkgeranium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sandor Clegane has spent the past 15 years of his life at Court in Kings Landing with his sister Queen Lyanna and her husband King Rhaegar Targaryen.  He has just returned to his childhood home to take his dead brother’s place as Lord of Winterfell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A work for Sansan appreciation week. The first week of February 2015.
> 
> Prompt: Day 3: Small Folk Sansa, Noble Sandor (Role Reversal)
> 
> I have played around with ages here: ageing up and altering age gaps. Sandor is 27; Gendry 25; Sansa 21 and Arya 19 (just in case you need to know).
> 
> As usual characters and setting are the exclusive property of GRRM.
> 
> Ok. So I have so many works in progress at the moment but I wanted to do something for Sansan appreciation week and this idea grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. So I am calling it a one-shot but I might come back and add more later.

_**SANDOR** _

Lord Sandor Clegane pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to stave off the headache building behind his grey eyes.

“I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you my Lord.” His steward broke eye contact to look down at the ledgers piled in front of him on the table.

“The Cleganes have ruled the North for 8,000 years, first as Kings, then as Lords of Winterfell and Wardens of the North, yet my brother can bring our house to near ruin in only 15 years?  How did this happen?”

“Your brother was not interested in maintaining Winterfell or in the concerns of the small folk.  He cared for nothing but gambling, hunting, drinking and ... well ... fucking.  I did what I could to keep things going but it wasn’t enough, we couldn’t keep good tradesmen.  After a few years none with wives or daughters would even come here.  Most of the small folk left and those that stayed hid their women folk or sent them away.”

“Why did you stay Gendry?  It can’t have been easy for you.”

“I couldn't leave while my father was sick and then ... he always meant me to follow after him as steward of Winterfell, just as he followed his own father.  I couldn't disappoint him.  Not to mention I had nowhere else to go...and...and...well there’s a girl.”

”A girl?”

“Yes, her father’s a crofter.  I used to let him know when Lord Gregor was in residence or expected so he could keep his wife and daughters confined to the house.  I had to stay to make sure she and her family never came to your brother’s notice.”

“You didn’t marry her?”

“Your brother demanded the Lord’s right to First Night.  There have been very few marriages here in the last 15 years and most of them took place while Lord Gregor was away.”

“The fucking bastard!  How did the King not hear of this?”

“It’s a long way from Winterfell to Kings Landing, my Lord, besides who would have told the King such a thing about his own good-brother?”

“Lyanna knew Gregor as well as I did. She wouldn’t have defended him.”

“My Lord-”

“Gendry, can you stop with this my Lord bullshit?  We grew up together gods damn it, call me by my name.”

“Sorry my... er...Sandor.”

“That’s better.  Every time you call me my Lord I keep looking behind me for my father or my brother, it’s making me uneasy. So how do we turn this around?”

“You could marry an heiress.  I’m sure Queen Lyanna could find one for you.”

“What do I have to offer an heiress?  I have an ugly face, an empty treasury and an ancestral home that is falling down around me.”

“Some women would find the idea of being the foremost lady in the North attractive.”

“Really? Still?  How many women did my brother take to wife?”

“I buried his fourth in the lichyard last spring.  He had me looking for a fifth when he passed; not an easy task by any means after what happened to the previous four, but you are not your brother; and I am not the Queen of Westeros.”

“Do I have any other options? Are there jewels I could sell?”

“Most of your lady mother’s jewels are already gone.  There is still some plate we could sell in White Harbour, but it would still take a lot of hard work to get this place back to where it was, more hard work than you are likely to be accustomed to.”

 

_**SANSA** _

Sansa almost skips across the stableyard.  Her new found freedom is intoxicating.  Normally if Lord Clegane was in residence she would be locked inside the cottage with her mother and sister but today she has taken fresh eggs to Winterfell’s kitchens as she usually does only when Lord Clegane is away.  Everything has changed because there is a new Lord Clegane. 

This one is brother to the last but nothing like him according to Gendry who visited her father yesterday to tell him of their new lord’s arrival.  Her life is finally beginning.  She and Harry will be able to marry now.  The new lord will be looking for new crofters to replace those who have fled so she and Harry will be able to have a croft of their very own.  She is so happy she decides to surprise Harry in the stables.  Gendry pays him to come and muck out the stables every morning so he can save a little extra for the wedding and she knows he will be thrilled to see her.  Perhaps he will even kiss her.

It takes her eyes a moment to adjust to the dark interior of the stables and the first thing she sees is a strange horse, massive and black as ink in the first stall.  The horse is restive and when it sees her it shows her its teeth.  Sansa shudders, she doesn’t like horses much.  She gives the horse a wide berth and heads deeper into the stables to find Harry.  She can hear strange groans coming from one of the stalls, Harry must be working hard to be making sounds like that. Mucking out must be heavier work than she thought. She is just about to push open the gate and enter the stall when she hears a woman’s voice saying “Harder, fuck me harder.”  Sansa blushes, she can’t believe she almost walked in on two people doing ‘it’.  She turns to leave but then she hears another voice and this voice is enough to make the blood drain from her face.

“Is that hard enough for you Jeyne?”

“Yes, O gods yes.  Don’t stop Harry, don’t fucking stop.  I’m close, so close.”

Sansa turns, pulls the gate open and stumbles into the stall.  Her friend Jeyne is on her back in the straw her skirts hitched up to her waist and Sansa’s Harry is on top of her, his breeches down around his ankles, his bare backside in full view as he thrusts his hips against Jeyne. Jeyne’s eyes go wide when she sees Sansa and she hits Harry on the shoulder.

“Harry stop.  We have to stop.”  She says hitting him again.

“Make up your mind woman.  I thought you wanted to come. At least let me fucking finish.”

“Harry it’s Sansa.”

“It’s too bloody late to be thinking about Sansa now.”

“No Harry, Sansa’s here.  She’s here right now, watching us.”  Harry looks over his shoulder and sees her.  He stops moving.

“Sansa it’s not what it looks like.”

“I’m not an idiot.  I’m a crofter’s daughter.  I know it’s exactly what it looks like.”  Sansa turns her back and leaves the stall.  It is not until she has left the stables that she feels the tears pricking at the back of her eyes and breaks into a run.  She flees round the corner of the stables and runs straight into a wall, but surely there was never a wall here before.  She must have got turned around.  She pushes against the wall with her hands and it is strangely soft and warm to the touch.  She looks up and all she can see in front of her is a man’s chest, she looks up again tipping her head back and she sees his face.  She knows who this must be. 

It is said that the Cleganes have the blood of the first men and the blood of the giants beyond the wall, and this man stands over six feet.  She is a tall woman but he is a giant in comparison. And as if his size was not enough to identify him as her new liege lord, the left side of his face is a twisted mass of scar tissue from a childhood accident.  It is a tale her mother has told them a hundred times to stop them from playing too close to the fire.  He looks down at her with soft grey eyes.  She starts to tremble.  If she had run into his brother like this her life would be over.  She removes her hands from his chest and tries to curtsy but stumbles over her feet somehow and almost falls but he reaches out with one hand to grab her arm and that is enough to keep her on her feet.  The blood is back in her face and her heart is thudding fast.

“I’m sorry milord.  I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She is conscious there must be tears on her cheeks and in her eyes as her vision is a little blurry.

“Are you well girl?”

“Yes milord.  Quite well milord.”  He doesn’t look convinced, and why should he be when she is flushed, shaking, with tear-stained cheeks and tears in her eyes.

“There’s no need to lie to me girl.  I think it might be best if I take you to the housekeeper.”

“No milord.  I need to get home my parents are expecting me.  If – if you would just let me go milord, I’ll be on my way.”

\- - -                                                                      

Sandor looks down to see his hand still curled around the girl’s arm.  He uncurls his fingers slowly and releases her.  Gods the girl is a vision, red hair, eyes blue as the sky, skin like fresh cream.

She drops a more successful curtsy in his direction before she hurries away.  He turns to watch her go.  That hair tumbling loose down her back, he wants to bury his face in it.  His chest feels hot where she touched him and his cock is stirring in his breeches.  He wants her.  More than he has ever wanted any woman before.  Damn it!  If he is to be a good Lord of Winterfell he can’t go around coveting the daughters of his small folk.  He needs to show them that he is different from his brother.  He pushes the girl from his thoughts and continues towards the stables. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I have given into requests and produced another chapter for this work. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> WARNING for crude language.
> 
> Don't expect regular up-dates though... I am still quite occupied by my other WIPs.

Sandor stands in the derelict hall of Wolfe Keep.  Dust lies in drifts on the floor and floats in the weak beams of sunlight that pour through the windows set high in the walls.  Every piece of furniture has been damaged.  Someone seems to have taken an axe to the high table, and the piles of kindling against the walls seem to indicate that all the benches and chairs were broken against them. There is also a suspicious stain on the stone floor in front of where the Lord’s seat once rested.

“What happened to Lord Wolfe Gendry?” He turns in the direction of his steward who is lingering in the doorway behind him.

“Your brother set the dogs on him.  They dragged him from his chair and ripped him to pieces right here, in front of his sister.”

“You were here?”

“Gods no.  One of the men-at-arms told me after they came back to Winterfell.”

“Why did he do it?”

“Lord Wolfe refused to consent to Lord Gregor marrying his sister.”

“What happened to the girl?”

“Gregor brought her back to Winterfell.  With her brother gone he didn’t put himself to the trouble of marrying her.  She threw herself from the south tower a fortnight later.”

“They’re all going to be like this aren’t they?  All the derelict keeps you’re taking me to see?  All these minor lordships are vacant because Gregor killed those who held them?”

“Gregor wasn’t always so obvious; and there’s a rumour that Lord Anders is living it up in Pentos.”

“Do I have any liege lords left?”

“Those who lived the farthest away and had their own banner-men fared best.  Houses Umber, Manderly, Reed, and Clegant* fared well, Gregor knew better than to challenge them, and he was friendly with the Boltons, they’re the only house sorry to see him dead.”

“So, you really think I’m going to be able to sell these vacant titles to rich merchants?”

“You need funds and it’s a way of raising them.  The land’s good though it’s lying fallow.  There’s time enough for the small folk to return and for crops to be planted. My betrothed has two older brothers who’d be grateful for crofts of their own.”

“Well there are plenty of crofts going begging as long as these boys aren't afraid of hard work.”  Sandor casts one final look at the ominous blood stain.  “I’ve had enough of this for today.  Tomorrow we’ll send a team from Winterfell to clean up.  Get rid of the broken furniture and the dust and see if that stain can be scrubbed out.”

“Yes my lord.”

“Gendry.”

“Sorry, yes Sandor,” Gendry says before clearing his throat in a purposeful way.  “Seeing as we’re out this way, would you mind if we went to see my betrothed on our way back to Winterfell?  I haven’t had the chance to see her since you arrived and I’d like you to meet her and her family.  Perhaps you might speak to Robb and Jon yourself about the crofts.”

“They’ll not thank you for bringing me to see them unexpectedly.’

“They will once you mention the crofts. Both Robb and Jon are itching to make something of themselves and their father will be grateful to you for giving them the opportunity.”

* * *

When they arrive at the croft, Sandor has a strong sense his original assessment was right. 

As they ride up to the simple dwelling he observes that the lands are well cultivated, and the animals well-cared for, but as they get closer it becomes obvious that raised voices are coming from the small cottage.  They have come at a bad time. He and Gendry exchange a glance and just as they are trying to decide whether they should ride away a girl comes barreling out of the house.

Sandor is shocked to see the red-haired vision from a couple of days ago, the one who has haunted his dreams for the past few nights.  Her face is white. 

Sandor curses himself.  She must be Gendry’s betrothed.  Once they are married he will see her about the castle every day.  She will always be both close at hand and horribly out of reach.  _The gods are cruel._

The girl takes off behind the house as though she doesn’t even see them.  Another girl rushes out the door in pursuit of her.  This one is dark with grey eyes, the image of his sister Lyanna as a girl, the blood of the First Men is strong in her.  She stops short when she sees them and her face lights up.

“Arya, allow me to present Lord Clegane.  Lord Clegane, this is Arya, my betrothed.”

The girl executes a rather rushed and unsteady curtsy in his direction before turning her attention to Gendry. “Oh Gendry, I’m so glad to see you.  We have been in uproar here for days.  What do you think but Sansa has called off her betrothal to Harry and she won’t tell anyone why?  Mother is furious.  Bran and I are trying to keep the peace.  While Father, Robb and Jon have decided the farthest fields are the ones that need their attention.”

“So they’re trying to keep out of it?” Sandor asks.

“Oh, milord, I’m so sorry, I forgot you were there.” Sandor is not surprised by her comment, from the moment she caught sight of Gendry it was obvious she only had eyes for him.  If he’d ever thought her family had sought the match only to improve their prospect,s his doubts have been thoroughly put to rest now he has met Arya.

“Gendry tells me I have business to discuss with your father and elder brothers, if you would point me in their direction I will ride out to them.”

“My father would be pleased to see you milord, and my brothers Jon and Robb too.  They have my smallest brother Rickon with them today also.  He wanted very much to be out of the house. They are in the field of maize at the furthest reaches of our croft,” she says, using the length of her arm to point in that direction.  As he turns away he hears her say to Gendry.  “Please don’t go yet.  Stay and visit with my mother.  She will be pleased to see you and I will be back as soon as I find Sansa.”

* * *

After seeing Gendry installed in her mother’s kitchen.  Arya ventures outdoors again in search of her sister.  She knows Sansa’s favourite hiding places so it doesn’t take her long to find the right one.  She knows she is on the right track long before she gets there as the sound of her sister’s sobbing carries to her on the breeze.

She finds Sansa curled into a ball half-inside a hollow tree they’d played house in as children and sits down beside her, leaning against the trunk.  “By the gods Sansa, if you’re so upset why don’t you just go ahead and marry him.  I barely got a wink of sleep last night between you crying and Harry throwing stones at our window.  I was so grateful that Father came out and sent him on his way when he started singing.”

“I’m not upset about ending the betrothal.  Nothing could make me marry him now.  Nothing.”

“Sansa, did he do something?  Is that why you want to end the betrothal?  If you tell me I will keep it between us, I swear it.”

“It’s too humiliating!”

“I’m your sister.  Nothing is too humiliating to share with your sister. I’ve seen water come out your nose when you laugh too hard.”

“I-I-I found him in the stable with Jeyne.  They were – they were – having ... _you know_.”

“Gods Sansa.  Do you mean they were fucking?”

“Yes.” Sansa answers in a small voice. 

“Then why is he here every night trying to get you back?”

“Because clearly he is a vile man who thinks he can have any and every woman he wants.  When I marry I want a man who will be mine alone.”

“I don’t think that’s an easy thing to find Sansa.  I mean even Father-”

“Are you telling me you think that Gendry-?”

“No Gendry would never.  Can’t you tell he’s absolutely besotted with me?  Also he knows if he did I’d cut his balls off while he slept.”

“Is that what I should do to Harry?”

“I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of touching his balls.  I’d freeze him out and Jeyne too.  Don’t even acknowledge their existence from now on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *My version of House Karstark.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long but here's another chapter.
> 
> Don't get too excited though - the updates won't get anymore regular. I just had a flash of inspiration and put this together.
> 
> This chapter continues directly from the events in Chapter Two.

_**SANDOR** _

_Her name is Sansa_ , is his first thought as he rides off in the direction her sister pointed. It’s a pretty name and so close to his own it’s enough to give him chills.  _She’s trying to call off her betrothal.  Why?  Is it possible she was as affected by our first meeting as I was?_ He knows the idea is ridiculous.  Gendry is marrying down in marrying a crofter’s daughter; the idea that he could do the same is ludicrous.  His sister would likely march up here from King’s Landing and accuse him of losing his mind.  He wonders if being branded as a lunatic by his only remaining sibling might be worth it if he got to call her his own.  _Sansa, her name is Sansa._ He shakes his head to clear it.  He is being ridiculous, acting like a squire of twelve not a grown man who has just come into the lands of his forefathers.

He has reached the far edges of the croft when he spots the men some distance ahead.  Three men and a boy.  The older man is unbent, solidly built and strong of arm – the North is in his looks.  The two younger men are similarly built.  One has the look of the North. The other has hair that shines auburn in the sunlight.  The boy with them is a smaller version of his auburn-haired brother. 

Sandor reins in his mount and waits for them to come up with him.  The boy arrives first at a run.

“Is that your horse?  Can I touch him?”

“He’s likely to take a few fingers off if you do.”

“He won’t.  Horses like me.  I’ve got the gift.  Old Nan says so herself.” The boy stands where Stranger can see him and holds out his hand.  Sandor’s horse lowers his head and lets the boy stroke him between his ears. Sandor has never seen the like of it.

“Apologies my lord.  The boy sees a horse and there is no stopping him.” The older man is beside him now.  “If you will allow me to introduce myself I am Ned and these are my boys Robb, Rickon and Jon.” The two younger men have come up behind him now.

“I’m pleased to meet you. Gendry has spoken to me of your family.  I have left him at your house in the company of your wife. I apologise if I have caught you at a bad time.”

“It’s an honour to meet you milord. We are honoured by your visit.  I apologise if things were not as they should have been at the house but my elder daughter has recently suffered a disappointment and my wife is taking it rather hard.”

“No need to explain further.  I have come to talk of more positive matters.” Feeling awkward that he is so far above them, Sandor dismounts his horse and ignoring his misgivings gives the reins to Rickon to hold.  The boy puffs up like a plover as soon as he takes the reins.

“You realize we’ll hear about nothing else for a week now?” Robb, the more jovial of the two young men remarks.  “It’ll be: remember the day Lord Clegane let me lead his horse?  Wasn’t it the most handsome beast you’ve ever seen?   It was more than 16 hands high and black as ink? His lordship just handed me the reigns like I was his own squire.  Do you think he’d let me be a squire?  I want to be a knight like Fath-” Robb stops abruptly as if aware he’s said too much.

“You used to be a Knight?” Sandor asks turning towards Ned. No wonder his children seem more articulate than the average crofter’s sons.  No wonder Ned slips between calling him ‘my lord’ and ‘milord.’

“Yes, though I was no more than a hedge knight.  I rode south with your father in the days of Robert’s Rebellion. Helped him and your mother’s Lannister relations put down the Young Stag before he could take the Seven Kingdoms from Good King Aerys.”*

\- - -

_**ARYA** _

“So, did you and Harry ever-?” It’s surprisingly easy to talk to her sister like this. Sansa huddled half-inside the hollow tree while Arya sits outside leaning against its trunk.  She could easy reach out and take Sansa’s hand if she wanted to, and yet she also feels separated from her.

“No we certainly did not!  Mother taught us to wait until we were married.” Sansa pauses for a beat. “Arya? Have you and Gendry?”

“Yes.” Arya has secretly been dying to tell someone this.

Sansa breaks the spell by poking her head out from inside the tree. “Arya how could you?  What would you have done if you’d gotten pregnant?”

“How could I not?  Haven’t you noticed that Gendry and I are mad about each other?  Who knew when we would be allowed to marry?  Father would never have let us while Lord Gregor ruled here! And it’s not like we got carried away in a field, we planned it and he bought me moon tea for after.”

“I can’t believe it.  Weren’t you worried he’d not marry you after? I mean mother and father have always worried about what an unequal match it is.”

“Hells no.  Weren’t you listening?  We’re MAD about each other.”

“You know ...  I was never mad about Harry.  I liked him well-enough and I was looking forward to being married but-”

“I know.  I used to feel sad for you that you didn’t feel that way about him.  I mean you’re so much prettier than me, everyone says so.  If either of us deserved real love it should have been you.  When I first saw Gendry I was sure he’d take one look at you and I wouldn’t have a chance.”

“You liked him as soon as you saw him?”

“Yes, he said it was the same for him.”

“And you might never have seen each other if his horse hadn’t thrown a shoe that day?”

“I know.  I say a little prayer every night for that horse.  I love that horse.  When Gendry and I are married and I’m living at Winterfell I am going to give that horse a lump of sugar from the kitchens every day.”

“Will you let me visit you when I’m an old maid?”

“Of course, once I start having children you can come live at the castle and help me look after them.  You know I don’t have a lot of patience for squalling babes.”

“Does Gendry know that?”

“Of course he does.  He likes me even with all my faults.”

\- - -

_**SANSA** _

Sansa is grateful her sister sought her out.  She feels better now she has been able to share the truth with someone.  She is more resolved than ever to end her betrothal.  She doesn’t love Harry.  Her heart is not broken.  Her tears are for the  betrayal and humiliation that overwhelm her when she thinks of what she saw in the stables: her betrothed and her best friend. 

She sends Arya home ahead of her and wanders down to the stream to splash water on her tear-stained face.  _I have cried my last over this.  If mother sees my tears she will doubt my resolve.  I must be firm and stand strong.  There is a better match for me.  And if there is not... well I can take care of mother and father, my brothers and Arya and her babes.  I will be busy._ Sansa lingers by the stream a good while.  It is pretty there and soon one of her father’s cows wanders down for a drink and looks at her with its deep, dark brown eyes. 

Sansa finally gets up and walks in the direction of the cottage. When she arrives outside she sees two horses tied to a bush beside the front door. One she recognises as belonging to Gendry, while the other is the ink black horse she saw in the stables the day she caught Harry and Jeyne.  The Lord’s horse.  Gods has Gendry brought Lord Clegane to their house unexpectedly?  Her mother will be beside herself.  Suddenly Sansa has a flash of memory.  There were two horses standing in the yard when she fled the house.  Two horses carrying men on their backs.  One of the men had been Gendry and the other... Oh no!  The other had been their new lord and she had not even acknowledged him! What a terrible impression she must have made on him – crashing into him the first time they met and then totally ignoring him the second. She is about to run away again when she hears someone calling her name from inside and notices Rickon perched on the kitchen window sill.

“Where have you been Sanny?” He asks.  “Gendry and Arya have set a date for the wedding and Lord Clegane is to give Robb and Jon crofts of their own.  Have you met Lord Clegane? He let me lead his horse!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * What can I say? This is very AU. King Rhaegar and Queen Lyanna are the current rulers of Westeros. Lyanna is Sandor's sister. King Aerys wasn't mad and died of a winter chill (his son succeeded him). Sandor and Lyanna's mother was a Lannister. Yet Robert Baratheon still rebelled ... the gods know why ... don't ask me ... he just did ok?


End file.
